Day 3:
I woke up at 7:00; I was out like a light at 9:40 the night before. I had planned to do the EMH at DL which started at 9:00 but I ended up catching up in the journal instead. I’ve learned from experience getting too far behind can be a bad thing. I had some fruit for breakfast while catching up. Since I missed the EMH I figured I would just relax by the pool until it was time for my massage at 11:30, so after getting ready I headed down to the pool.
I decided to take down my trash and recycling while heading to the pool, and I noticed a side door near the trash room. I figured I could get to the pool from there too so did a little exploring and found the grills.
I never saw them being used but I thought it was nice they were in their own little courtyard. I meandered along the sidewalk and went in search of the pool.
I was glad I chanced it because I found the pool shortly. They have all the entrances to the pool gated off where you have to use your room key to get in. It was a little annoying at times, but I’m sure the pool would be swamped with park goers if it wasn’t gated off.
I found a lounger and sat down to relax. Have I mentioned how magnificent these loungers were? I was in love!
I started to get a little hungry, the fruit didn’t last long. At first I figured I’d wait until after my massage, but I had over an hour until I needed to head to the spa so went to check out what Whitewater had to offer.
I took some pictures inside while waiting, they’re not the best but you get the general idea of the place, it was actually quite cute. I ordered an egg/cheese biscuit which they make fresh.
I took my sandwich back out to the pool and read on the Dis while I ate my sandwich. It was pretty good, there were actually two fried eggs in it, so I divided it into two open faced sandwiches, it was really high trying to eat it in one bite.
I headed over to the spa at 11:15 and checked in. They took me back to the changing rooms and showed me where to wait. I didn’t get any pictures inside, I just wanted to relax. It felt like I waited a while but it probably wasn’t. I didn’t have a clock with me so have no idea how long it was. I booked a 50 minute deep tissue massage and my goodness was it just what I needed! She chatted the whole time which I wasn’t crazy about, but it was fine. My shoulders were so tense I asked her to focus on my upper body and feet and she really worked out the tension I had built up. I actually hurt for a few days from how much pressure she had to use to get all the knots out but it was a good pain. All too soon it was over and I headed out to pay. They offered a DVC discount which was fabulous. It was originally $135 and the discount got it down to $108. Then tip on top of that. It was worth every penny!
After my lovely massage I went back up to the room. Next on the agenda was my Walk in Walt’s Footsteps Tour at 2:30. They told me I needed to show up 30 minutes early to choose my dinner and I still needed to pick up my ticket at Guest Services in front of DL I packed up what I felt I needed for the rest of the day, checked my emails, and headed over to DL shortly after 1:00. No problem getting my ticket at Guest Services and I was in the park by 1:30. I had at least thirty minutes to kill so headed into a shop Alison had pointed out the day before. There was this very cool bank vault in there. I thought it was really pretty.
After meandering around for a little bit I headed out, it was much too easy to lose track of time window shopping. It’s not like I’d had an active day at all, but I was hungry again. I knew I wouldn’t be able to last until the end of the tour, so went in search of some food. I was heading to get a dole whip and passed the Jolly Holiday Bakery and remembered the caprese sandwich I had on my list. That sounded really good at the moment so I headed in. There was no wait at all and I quickly ordered. It was 1:40 and I needed to check in at the tour podium in the next 20 minutes or so. Well, people came and went and I still hadn’t received my food. I was getting quite upset, for some reason this seems to happen to me often. A nice CM noticed me still waiting after 10 minutes and came to my rescue. Finally with sandwich in hand I went to find a table. I decided not to rush and just sit and relax.
Sorry this is blurry, it was a really tasty sandwich and I would definitely get it again. Very simple, tomatoes, mozzarella, lettuce, and balsamic vinaigrette on a rosemary bread. The bread made it extra delicious.
I’m glad I didn’t rush because when I got to the podium at 2:10 there was still plenty of time even after choosing my dinner options. And where would we be having dinner from? Why the Jolly Holiday Bakery of course! Too funny, I couldn’t believe the coincidence. I chose a salad this time since the sandwich really filled me up and I didn’t think I’d be up for another sandwich in three hours. We also had our choice of a drink and dessert. Apparently our food would be delivered to us after the tour was finished. There was time for a quick bathroom break before heading out and there was one conveniently situated right behind the tour podium. Then we were all equipped with our earpieces and receivers.
Soon after that our tour began. So, pretty much we walked around the park stopping at various locations where our guide told us neat info about Walt and his vision for DL. A lot of it I had heard before but some was completely new. At some points when we stopped she had us listen to old clips of Walt talking. They were very cool, but the audio was so low it was hard to hear even with the volume turned all the way up. I hope Disney fixes this soon, it was a bit tacky.
I do not know how she walked comfortably in these shoes all day.
We stopped and listened to a clip of Walt on opening day of DL which was really neat.
She told us about the names on the windows.
I do not remember what we talked about here. I was already getting hot and we had many hours left. Oh yes, she was telling us about the hub and all the different lands.
A bit smaller than the castle I’m used to but still pretty.
This one’s better
